• Arab Reform Initiative

  Staff:	Henry Siegman, Former Senior Fellow and Director for the U.S./Middle East Project, Council on Foreign Relations

  March 1, 2005 - Present

  The U.S./Middle East Project initiated consultations among leading policy institutions in the Arab world, Europe and the United States and assisted them in the formation of an international consortium that will focus on issues associated with democratization and regional reform. The purpose of this network is to mobilize the Arab research capacity in support of reform in the Arab World that is realistic and home grown. The U.S./Middle East Project continues to serve as consultant to this initiative in coordination with four European policy institutes and provides support as needed. Financial oversight of the Arab Reform Initiative (ARI) was assigned to the Center for European Reform in May 2005. In September 2005, Dr. Bassma Kodmani was made full-time director for the program. From October 24-25, 2005, the Secretariat of the Arab Reform Initiative convened in Cairo to discuss the organization's work plan for 2006. Dr. Kodmani anticipates publication of several topical and country studies in the coming year. In addition, ARI will co-sponsor two conferences in 2006 focusing on comparative experiences in democratic transition and security sector reform in the Arab world, respectively. The Arab Reform Initiative's website is now accessible to the public [in both English and Arabic] at http://www.arab-reform.net/ and ARI publications are now regularly disseminated to International Board members, key policymakers, policy professionals, academics and members of civil society throughout the Middle East, United States and Europe.

  
  

• The Global Finance Regime

  

  Explore the international finance regime with a new interactive from CFR's program on International Institutions and Global Governance.

  New Council Special Reports

  
  

  Enhancing U.S. Preventive Action

  Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.

  The United States in the New Asia

  For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.

  Complete list of Council Special Reports

  New Books

  Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.

  

  In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.

  In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.

  Complete list of CFR Books

  David Rockefeller Studies Program Contacts

  For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:

  James M. Lindsay
  Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
  +1.212.434.9626 (NY); +1.202.509.8405 (DC)
  jlindsay@cfr.org

  Janine Hill
  Deputy Director of Studies Administration
  +1.212.434.9753
  jhill@cfr.org

   

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